China Quietly Invests Reserves in U.K. Properties

BEIJING—China's foreign-exchange regulator has been actively but discreetly investing in U.K. property and infrastructure, marking a significant shift in how the secretive manager of the world's largest foreign-currency reserves uses its funds.

Since May, U.K.-registered Gingko Tree Investment Ltd., a wholly owned unit of China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange, has invested more than $1.6 billion in at least four deals, including a water utility, student housing, and office buildings in London and Manchester,...